


Swan Song

by OpalHonors



Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Angst, Feels, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-05-29 04:51:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpalHonors/pseuds/OpalHonors
Summary: A family feels trip.Each of the Callahans say goodbye in their own way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Little bit sorry about this cousins..  
> Was listening to Mark read HLatB, and got to the part about Nita's mom and the moon.

"Mom." Nita whispered, gently touching her mother's shoulder. "Wake up." She said, as her mom muttered and went to turn over. Nita watched as her eyes opened, looking sleepily around before coming to rest on Nita. "What is it honey? I was resting." Nita smiled sadly. Most days now Nita's mom spent resting. The aide that helped them care for her said that it was the body conserving energy to fight the cancer, but Nita knew better. Slowly but surely, Betty Callahan was dying. Nita had a feeling it would only be a few more days, and she was determined to do this before she left for TimeHeart. 

The aide bustled in, looking determinedly cheerful. "Wonderful, you're awake! Nita wants to take you somewhere, said you needed to get dressed warmly. Maybe that penguin exhibit at the zoo?" Nita stepped out into the hall as the aide helped Betty to the bathroom, then helped her get dressed. When Betty was wheeled into the hall, she was wearing one of the curled hair wigs that had sent her into gales of laughter when she saw it. It was the same shade of red as her hair, and it had been pinned and curled so it looked like the victory rolls from World War Two. Nita's dad had come home with the wig the next day.

Nita thanked the aide then wheeled her mom outside, then around the corner from the care facility that their mom was staying at. As soon as she was sure they were screened by the bushes, she threw an invisibility spell over them and pushed them over to a cove that surrounded the sidewalk. "Nita... Where are we going?" Betty sounded concerned, and slightly suspicious. "It's a surprise, mom. Just trust me, ok?" Nita said as she pulled her manual out of her otherspace pocket.

She hurriedly flipped the pages to the spell pattern she had bookmarked and laid it out, double checking the names out of habit. Her eyes jerked to a halt at her mother's, so different from what it had been just a few years ago. Some of the conditional modifiers were getting awfully short. She took a deep breath then started reading. This wasn't as easy to do with just her, but she didn't care, she would do it, whatever the cost. Indeed, near the end of the circle, where the power requirements were located, she had worked in the payment. One day of her life to power it, to hold the spell circle at the perfect setting.

With a deep breath, she finished the power statements and moved onto the wizards knot. The silence that had surrounded her blew away with a thunderclap that was quickly replaced with another silence.

Nita sighed slightly, feeling the weight figuratively falling off her shoulders. Betty Callahan looked around, then looked up and gasped. Nita smiled, she had been planning to take her mom up for several days, but this one had been the best. The Earth and moon were at perigee, the closest they would be. It wasn't noticeable on Earth because the moon wasn't full, but here the Earth was a disc, glowing so brightly it nearly blinded.

Betty stood from her wheelchair as if pulled from it, staring up. She looked down, surprised, since she had been to weak to stand without assistance for the past month. "Gravity is less here, mom." Nita said, looking up at Earth, "I also bumped the amount of oxygen in the atmospheric mix up by a bit. Should keep you from tiring out too quickly. I figured you might want to go for a walk or something." Betty nodded and looked back up at the Earth, smiling a fierce smile even as tears rolled down her cheeks. Nita looked at how she stood, back perfectly straight, with the sun shining off her wig as if it would catch on fire. 

They stood there together, watching the Earth, for a while.


	2. Chocolate Wergild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dairine bargains for some allowances, with some success.

Dairine stalked across the Crossings Tarmac, her laptop bag clutched against her side. She was heading for the Stationmaster's terminal, and she had a goal in mind. Reaching it she waited in line patiently (for her). Reaching the front, she waited until she was acknowledged by the Rirhait curled on around the seating apparatus. "Oh, you again." He said, curling several eyestalks down to peer at Dairine with something approaching disdain. "What do you want? Haven't you caused enough trouble lately? We're still recovering from the last time you came through."

 

Dairine thought this was rather unfair, as she had passed by the locations she had passed through, mostly out of curiosity, and they all looked about the same as before she had been there. Or at least, they  _seemed_ the same. Still, she had a reason for being here, and she was going to see it through. "I... need a favor." She said, spilling it out at once. She  _hated_ asking for favors, it made her feel weak, she should be able to do anything she needed to by herself, she already felt weak enough, not being able to help her mom.  _No. Don't think of that._ Shaking her head to clear it, she looked back at the Stationmaster. "And why should the Crossings want to do you any favors at all?" He asked, turning to face her more fully. "Also, what kind of favor could a  _wizard_ such as yourself be needing from the Crossings?" The amount of scorn he seemed to imbue in the word wizard seemed strange.

She took a deep breath. "I need a two use long range gate. Subsidized, I can't feed it myself." she admitted, staring at the ground in frustration. She hated this, she was constantly angry, but the anger only masked a pain that seemed to be growing inside her, like the cancer was growing in her - _NO!_ "We have many gates here, why does this require the favor of the Crossings?" Mutely, she slid across a data cube, which he plugged into the terminal. Once he finally made sense of what he was seeing, his eyes tried to knit themselves together. "Absolutely not, the amount of power this would require is astro-"

"I can pay." She interrupted, pulling out three items from her bag. He snorted. "I doubt a spawn such as yourself could afford the cost of half of it..." He trailed off as she slid the items across the counter. "Three bars of To'ak, 81% dark chocolate. That should cover the cost of damages to the facility, plus the subsidy for the worldgate, twice." She stared at the chocolate, throat tight. It had cost nearly every penny she had made from poker games, plus some deals she probably shouldn't have made, but it would be worth it, for this. "Do we have a deal?"

The Rirhait stared at her for a long minute, it's eyes twisting gently. It slowly drew the chocolate across to itself. "We have a deal. You will have the power feeds subsidized." She nodded, then turned and left. 

In the back of her mind, there was a stream of data, constantly running. There was a sudden upswing in traffic, a rising stream of chatter arising from a data notation made in a worldgate facility nearly half a universe away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the pre-game to the following chapter, which will be posted in a couple days, maybe. I wanted to flesh this family out more completely, so here it is.


	3. Mothers and Daughters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dairine says goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I didn't know how to word it properly at first. Unfortunately I am one of those writers who needs inspiration to 'strike' to get into a writing mood. (Same reason why Gentle Seed hasn't updated in five months)
> 
> MAJOR TW for death mention, dealing with death, family members dying, cancer.
> 
> The first chapter was bittersweet. This chapter is going to be straight up bitter. It will get better, I promise, but if you are not in a good headspace to read this, please don't. I've been sent into many bad spirals due to reading something I wasn't prepared for, and would like to spare you this if I could. I think the ending is worth it though, so if you want to continue reading, by all means, do so.

Dairine sat with her back pressed up against Liused's trunk, looking across the yard. It was dark, and the moon was half full, a cool light that lit everything without being too bright. It suited her mood perfectly. She didn't want her dad or Nita to see her like this, that was for sure. Finally, she reached into the back of her brain for a connection, ( _and didn't it feel just like trying to plug a cord in behind a piece of furniture, an outlet she couldn't see because her arm was in the way?_ ) and found it. 

 

 ** _Mother/Daughter/Sister_  ** the connection roared to life in her head, and the words, an overlapping series of connections, connotations, and impressions overwhelmed her for a moment. 

 _Hello, Motherboard._ She thought, knowing that it could hear her, even feel her, now that the connection was opened fully. 

 ** _You are in great pain._** It said, a statement that summed up how she felt, and yet also didn't touch a thing.  _Pain_ was when you skinned your knee, or knocked out a tooth. It was getting knocked out in the dojo.  _Pain_ was lying in bed at night, eyes heavy with tears as she railed against a world that couldn't handle her. It was the voice telling her that she would never fit in, would never be able to get along with anyone.  _Pain_ was simple. She had been dealing with pain for years. This gaping hole in her chest, that swallowed her voice and her breath and her thoughts, surely couldn't be summed up with a word so trite. 

She sighed.  _Yes._

 ** _Why?_** it asked, curious. 

 _My mother. She's.... she's dying._ She thought, as the tears started to drip down her face. She hated crying. It made her feel weak, and helpless, and she wasn't helpless, not anymore. She was a wizard! She could help anyone! She could help  _EVERYONE_. Except, it seemed, like the one person who mattered most.

 ** _I know this. We felt you, at the Crossings. You wish to bring her, here?_**   It was a gentle thought.  ** _Do you think we can help her?_** The thought was curious, but no more. 

Dairine shook her head. _She's too far along. I don't even think she could survive an upload, at this point. She's so weak now._

** Then why? **

_Because I want her to have hope. To see what I've made, helped bring about, and know that the world will be a better place, eventually._ She held the thought in her mind, like holding a strand of Christmas lights, warm and bright and burning just a little bit.

 _ **Bring her then. Let her see what you have wrought.**_ The reply came. Triumphant and loving and joyous. 

 

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Mom?" Dairine poked her head around the corner of the room, checking to see if her mom was awake. She ended up sleeping more these days than she used to, conserving her strength for when she needed it. She sometimes joked that she felt like a dragon, hoarding sleep. 

Betty looked up from the book she had been reading, placing a bookmark in it before setting it on the table by which she had been seated. The aid had already come by, gotten her mother up and dressed, that was good. Her mom sat in a wheelchair, a blanket tucked over her legs. It was crocheted, a series of granny squares in bright colors. Her scalp was covered by a handkerchief, the wig was sitting on it's head shaped stand. Betty realized what she was looking at and smiled wryly. "Don't tell your father, but sometimes it itches horribly. I just couldn't take it today." Dairine nodded, even though it hurt. Betty had  _loved_ wearing that wig, thought the style looked hilarious on her. 

"I've already checked you out for the day. Do you think you are up to it?" she asked, hopefully. Betty smiled. "First your sister, now you. Next thing I know, Harry is going to come whisk me off somewhere. I'm feeling well enough today, I think. Where are we going?" 

"It's a surprise." Betty wheeled her way over to Dairine, then leaned back and let Dairine push her out of the facility. The first time she had tried to leave with her mom, the staff had raised a fuss, until Betty herself had pointed out that she was fully aware of what was going on, and should a minor really be going about without adult supervision? That had caused the staff to stop quite quickly. 

Once Dairine had reached a place that was out of sight, she pulled Spot out of her messenger bag.  _Anyone nearby, Spot?_ she thought as she got her mom set up across the sidewalk from her.  _No._ Spot said, even as he poked out an eye stalk to peek around her to check. "Good, lets get the circle up and running before someone does, huh?"

The circle blazed, and with a blinding flash of light and a whispered word, they vanished. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, not going to lie, this took a much darker turn than I expected at the beginning, to the point that I had to edit my beginning notes for TW.  
> I will try to post the rest of this arc when I get the chance. I meant to have each story be poignant and sweet, but I've always related more to Dairine than Nita, so it's showing here. If I'm lucky, this will be the second of four chapters for Dairine's arc.


End file.
